In the
2008 Presidential election, La Riva received 6,821 votes, the 10th highest vote total.[8]
La Riva has also been the director of the National Committee to Free the
Cuban Five, and president of the typographical sector of the Northern California Media Workers Union.[9]

In 2012, La Riva was a presidential stand-in for
Peta Lindsay, PSL nominee for President who was not allowed on the ballot in some states due to her age.[10] As of August 2012, La Riva was on the ballot in Iowa, Utah and Wisconsin.[11]

In July 2015, she was announced as the PSL presidential nominee, with
Eugene Puryear as her running mate.[12]

As of July 24, 2016 La Riva and her campaign raised $25,234 and spent $10,092.[13]

La Riva was a candidate for the Peace and Freedom Party nomination for Governor of California in
2018.[15]

Other activities

La Riva has translated
Fidel Castro's book Cuba at the Crossroads (1997)
ISBN1-875284-94-X, and produced the documentary videos NATO Targets,Workers' Democracy in Cuba (1996), Genocide by Sanctions: The Case of Iraq (1998) and Let Iraq Live!